


Shift

by sodakooh



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: And Runaan realizes he’s weak, Character Study, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Canon, Rayla is a little girl, THIS IS SELF-INDULGENT, Young Rayla, injuries, no beta we die like me, only for her though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 07:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16013249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodakooh/pseuds/sodakooh
Summary: Runaan knows his duties. He knows he’s supposed to retreat, and follow the mission despite his injuries.But the sound of quiet crying is enough to pull him away from the path.





	Shift

**Author's Note:**

> this is just how i think rayla and runaan met !! it’s super self-indulgent and i’m trying to understand how runaan’s mind works lmao

Runaan panted heavily as he leapt from branch to branch, ignoring the painful ache of his injured leg. Instead, his eyes stayed laser-focused on the three human soldiers, running for their lives just below. It was almost impressive.

 

Like a feather, he leapt off a branch once more and almost stayed suspended in air while loading his bow with two arrows. They left the string with a  _ thwang! _ and two of the humans crumpled to the ground.

 

The last one stopped once he heard the sound and it seemed he considered running once more, but his legs refused to cooperate and he fell to the ground.

 

Runaan approached slowly, partially because he himself was tired and in pain and partially because he was cautious of what the human may do. 

 

“Stop! Don’t come any closer!” the human warned, although he possessed nothing that could hurt Runaan. 

 

The elf scowled. “You’re not in the position to make demands like that,” he replied, turning his bow back into two long blades with the flick of his hand. “I’ll make this quick.”

 

Just as he was about to swing, a loud roar jostled the earth, throwing Runaan off balance with his weak leg. The sound drove fear and panic right into his core, and he completely ignored the human so he could jump up the trees. He moved with such urgency that he nearly fell off, his leg screaming at him to stop.

 

_ Please… _ he thought to himself, jaw clenched tightly.  _ Please, not this… _

 

Runaan pushed himself up above the leaves and watched in horror as the once majestic, beautiful dragon that protected their land fell from the sky and seemed to dissipate into fragments of blue and purple. The faint cheers of hundreds and hundreds of vile, repulsive humans were too much, and Runaan wanted to run, to slay them  _ all _ for what they’ve done.

 

Runaan felt a wave of anger cover him, tempting him to pursue with the plan, but instead he leapt down from the trees and noticed only two human bodies.

 

_ The other escaped… _ he thought sourly. He pulled the two arrows out of the soldiers’ bodies, then out of spite, stabbed them back in before removing the again. 

 

The protocol was to fall back if they lost the war, and Runaan knew that, so he began running. He ran and ran, but his adrenaline levels were running low and the pain in his leg was becoming harder and harder to bear. He hadn’t even looked to see his condition yet, and told himself it was because he placed the war above his own suffering. 

 

Gradually, his mind couldn’t keep dismissing the pain and before he was aware of it, he tripped on his own feet, landing on his forearms with a grunt.

 

_ Damn it, you can’t stop now! _ he scolded himself, getting up with wobbling legs. He leaned against a tree trunk, and finally,  _ finally _ , glanced down to see the state of his leg. The fabric of his pants was a dark colour, but there was a certain wetness seeping through it. Runaan wearily pressed two fingers to the area, sucking air between his teeth. His fingers were stained crimson. 

 

Runaan took a piece of fabric from the tail of his uniform, biting at it to create an incision before tearing the rest of it with his hand. He wrapped the piece of fabric around the wound, tying it tightly with a small strangled grunt. 

 

There was a quiet sound from somewhere nearby that his sensitive ears picked up, making his head snap in the direction. He reached for his swords, cautiously stepping/limping closer and closer until he peeked through a large bush. 

 

It was only there and then that he noticed the sound was someone crying.

 

Runaan knew he had to get back to his group. He knew they had to recuperate and see how many they lost, but something deep inside him made his feet move forward, toward the sound.

 

A young girl sat on a large rock, curled up into a little ball that made her look smaller than she was. Her whole body seemed to shake as she cried, and if it wasn’t for the white hair and horns poking out from it, he would’ve turned and left (or so he told himself).

 

Runaan approached slowly, putting away his blades. “Hello there, young one,” he greeted quietly, unsure of what to say without startling her. 

 

She looked up a little from her ball position, only peeking at him from underneath her bangs. She seemed unsure of whether or not she wanted his presence, so Runaan took that as an okay for him to continue approaching.

 

“It’s dangerous for you to be out here by yourself, you know,” he advised, and the little girl blinked, still sniffling and hiccuping.

 

He was only a few steps away from her on top of the rock, so he decided to wait for a few moments to let her adjust. “My name is Runaan. What’s yours?” he asked.

 

The little girl continued to sniffle and stare at Runaan, and he was sure she wasn’t going to answer until a faint voice dismissed the thought.

 

“...Rayla…”

 

Runaan’s expression softened, and he offered her a smile. “Rayla,” he echoed, taking a small step forwards. “What a lovely name.”

 

Rayla didn’t say anything about how close he was, and truthfully didn’t sawed uncomfortable, so Runaan made a small gesture to the space beside her. “Mind if I join you on your rock?” he asked, to which she nodded.

 

Runaan took a seat next to Rayla, leaving a little bit of space between them. The older had been around young adults before since he’s been assigned to train some of the most promising moonshadow elves in the past. He’d never, however, gotten to have such a light and vulnerable interaction with a child.

 

It was… strange. 

 

“Rayla, why are you out here crying by yourself? Don’t you know there are humans out here trying to—“ he stopped himself as he figured using harsh words would no doubt scare her. “—harm us?”

 

Rayla shook her head hard. “I—I ran away from home,” she whispered, the crying seeming to pick up again.

 

“Ran away? Why? Aren’t your mother and father worried about you?” Runaan asked, shifting so he was facing her.

 

Rayla unfolded from her tight ball as she spoke, wiping her face harshly and unceremoniously. “My mum and dad, they—they were part of the group that were supposed to say with the king of dragons and his egg, but—“

 

At that exact moment, Rayla finally looked at Runaan directly, with no hair or limbs covering her face. Runaan saw the innocence and pain on her face, pain that had no place being part of someone so young. 

 

Something inside Runaan shifted.

 

“—they left. They left their spot, and they came running back home. I asked if we won, and they said they didn’t know and—and I—“

 

The crescendo of tension came to a climax as Rayla burst out sobbing again, clinging to Runaan as though he was the only plank of wood in the entire ocean. Runaan hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around her small frame, shushing her soothingly.

 

“I hate them! I hate them so much!” she cried out between sobs, sniffling and hiccuping.

 

Runaan didn’t know what to say or do, so he opted to rub small circles in her back, gently stroke her hair, and murmur small words of encouragement and comfort back to her. 

 

She had been quiet for a few minutes, and Runaan tilted his head so he could get a look at her expression. “Rayla?” he whispered, br he got no answer. Instead, he got a glimpse of a peaceful, sleeping expression coming from the young girl.

 

Runaan smiled softly, an unfamiliar warmth spreading through his chest. He scooped her up in his arms, careful not to jostle her too much, then began making his way back to their group. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading !! pleeeaaase comment and tell me other things you’d like to see me write about !! 
> 
> also follow my fic account @inkinascreen


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